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EXPLANATION 


OF  THE 


Alphabetic-Order  Marks 


(THREE-FIGURE  TABLES; 


By  CHARIvES  A.  CUTTER 


Northampton,  Mass. 

Hbrai.d  Job  Pki>-t 

1908 


THE  CUTTER  ORDER-MARKS; 

WHY  AND  HOW  THEY  ARE  USED  * 


It  lias  been  found  convenient  by  librarians  to  aiTange  some 
classes  of  books  alphabetically.  In  Biography,  for  instance  if 
the  books  stand  on  the  shelves  in  the  order  of  the  names  of  the 
persons  whose  lives  they  relate,  one  knows  that  Adams  will  be 
at  the  beginning  of  the  class  and  Washington  at  the  end  and 
Jefferson  somewhere  near  the  middle  ;  and  one  can  go  to  the 
shelf  and  get  the  life  one  wants  without  having  to  consult  a 
catalog  first,  which  makes  a  saving,  not  only  of  time  but  of 
eyes  and  patience.  Moreover,  one  will  find  all  the  lives  of 
Washington  standing  side  by  side,  which  will  often  not  happen 
on  any  other  plan.  In  Fiction  such  an  aiTangement,  either  by 
authors'  names  or  by  titles,  is  almost  a  necessity.  In  Poetry 
and  the  Drama  also  it  is  useful ;  and,  in  fact,  in  every  class  it  is 
better  than  an  aiTangement  by  sizes,  which  merely  makes  the 
shelves  look  a  little  more  orderly,  or  by  accession-number, 
which  has  no  advantage  at  all.f 

But  it  is  also  found  that  the  books  must  have  some  marks 
on  the  back  to  keep  them  in  order.  The  binders'  titles  will  not 
do,  because  often  they  do  not  contain  the  word  by  which  the 
book  should  be  aiTanged ;  and  when  they  do  the  ari'anger 
cannot  alwa3^s  see  at  a  glance  which  of  several  words  is  the  one 
to  arrange  by.  Moreover,  we  want  some  brief  mark  peculiar  to 
each  book,  and  not  belonging  to  any  other  copy,  by  which  to 
charge  the  volume  to  the  borrower.  Therefore  I  letter  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  back  of  each  book : 

*  vSome  preliuiiuary  discussions  on  this  subject  may  be  fouud  in  "Plans  for 
numbering  with  especial  reference  to  fiction,  a  library  symposium." — Library  Jour- 
nal. 4:38-47. 

t  The  plea  that  in  science  accession  order  assists  study  by  putting  the  older 
works  at  the  beginning  of  each  subject  and  modern  works  at  the  end  is  true 
only  in  the  rearrangtnuut  of  an  old  librarj' ;  in  a  new  library,  or  in  the  subse- 
quent history  of  the  old  library,  it  would  not  be  valid  unless  libraries  always 
bought  books  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  published  and  never  received  gifts 
of  old  books.  Chronological  order,  made  up  as  books  usually  ccme  into  a  library, 
will  be  a  very  mottled  affair. 

(2) 


1.  In  one  line,  the  letters  or  fignres  that  denote  its  CLASS 
and  snb-class. 

2.  In  another  line,  the  initial  of  the  author's  name,  fol- 
lowed by  certain  figures  (to  be  explained  later  on);  this  line 
stands  for  the  author's  name. 

3.  In  another  line,  the  initial  of  the  TITlH  (used  only  when 
there  are  two  works  by  the  same  author  in  the  same  sub-class.) 

4.  In  the  same  line,  when  there  is  more  than  one  copy  of 
the  same  work,  I  put  2  for  the  second  copy,  3  for  the  third,  if 
there  is  one,  and  so  on. 


Class 
and 

author 

Yi- 

362 

Defoe's 
Novels 


Class, 
author, 
and  title 

YP 

362 

r 

Defoe's 

Robinsou 

Crusoe 


Class, 

author, 

title, 

and  copy 

Yf 

362 

r4 

Robinson 

Crusoe 

4th  copy 


ALPHABETIC  ORDER. 


Books  on  the  shelves  are  kept  alphabeted  by  authors  by 
marking  them  wdth  the  initial  of  the  author's  family  name* 
followed  b-^'  o'le  or  m  "e  decimal  figures  assigned  according  to  a 
table  so  coi  -rai  ^  the  names  whose  initials  are  followed 
by  some  of  ire  rs  of  the  alphabet  have  tliQ  Jirs^  num- 
bers, and  tliG.  e  initials  are  followed  by  /a/er  letters 
have  /a/er  nuiu    '^ 


,  167 

Gould,  729 

'^21 

Grand,  762 

^^52 

Grote,  915 

7 

Guizot,  949 

*In  the  case  of  a; 
publications  etc.),  the  < 
cataloging,  according  to  c 
the  Decimal  Classification  .. 
instead  of  the  name  of  the  author 
subject  forms  part  of  the  class-mai 

tTwo  sets  of  tables  have  h. 
initial;  the  second  with  3  figurt.-,. 
because  the  two  figures  of  tlK  ft 
3-figure  table. 


nymous  works,  periodicals,  government 

determined  by  the  heading  adopted  for 

ictionary  catalog.     In  biography,  when 

of  the  subject  of  the  life  should  be  used 

;  iw  .  xpansive  Classification,  the  name  of  the 

--k,  as  a  life  of  Gerry,  Eg  321. 

;;n  issued  :  the  first  with  only  2  figures  after  the 

These  can  be  used  successively  in  the  same  class, 

rst  are   the  same   as  the   first   two  figures  of  the 


(3^ 
31;i811 


If  the  books  are  arra?iiged  in  the  order  of  these  numbers,  of 
course  they  will  be  in  alphabetical  order. 

To  use  the  table. 

1.  Find  the  first  few  letters  of  the  author's  name  in  the 
table ;  the  figures  following  added  to  the  initial  arc  the  mark  : 

E.g.,  for  the  name  Holmes  the  table  gives  Holm  734,  the  mark  is 
h734.  Lounsbury  (Loun  932)  is  l932,  Terhune  (Terh  272).  t272.  Hux- 
ley is  h982,  Macaulay  is  m119,  Thackeray,  t325. 

In  printing  a  catalog,  the  printer  should  be  cautioned  not  to  use  the 
old  style  figures  (i,  2,  3,  4,  etc.),  in  which  the  figure  1  is  the  same  as  the 
"small  capital"  letter  i. 

2.  For  names  beginning  with  A,  H,  I,  O,  U,  and  S, 
I  prefer  to  use  the  first  two  letters  of  the  author's  name  instead 
of  the  initial,  and  for  names  beginning  Mdth  Sc  three  letters. 

Only  two  figures  are  used,  the  second  letter  taking  the  place  of  a 
figure.  Thus,  Abrantes  is  Ab84,  Adler,  Ad59,  Afghan,  Af34,  Agnew, 
Ag63,  Alison,  A148. 

In  this  way  more  distinction  is  obtained  with  the  same  number  of 
marks. 

3.  If  the  first  letters  of  the  name  do  not  occur  in  the 
table  take  the  letters  next  previous  in  the  alphabetical  order. 

For  Pecksniff  we  take  the  number  of  Peck,  U.;  for  Manners,  the 
number  of  Mannag;  for  Ahern  the  number  of  Aher;  for  Erato  the  number 
of  Erath. 

4.  If  the  nitmber  found  is  already  in  use,  annex  another 
decimal. 

E.  g.,  if  there  is  a  Harris,  Ferdinand  h241,  Harris,  George  niay  be 
numbered  with  a  fourth  figure,  h2414;  Harris,  Frank  h241  1 ;  Harris, 
Henry  h2416;  Harris,  Isaac  h2418.     This  can  be  carried  to  any  extent. 

In  making  such  insertions  it  is  necessary  to  consider  in  what  part  of 
the  gap  the  new  name  will  go  best,  so  as  to  leave  room  on  one  side  or  the 
other  for  future  insertions. 

Except  in  enormous  classes,  one  would  rarely  get  to  the  fifth  figure. 
But  bad  judgment  in  choosing  the  fourth  figure  might  hasten  the  need  of 
adding  a  fifth. 

Avoid  using  the  number  1  as  long  as  other  numbers  aie  vacant, 
because  when  it  is  once  used  nothing  can  well  be  inserted  before  it;  one  can- 
not put,  for  instance,  anything  between  22  and  221.  Zero  should  be  used 
only  in  extreme  cases  because  it  might  be  mistaken  for  the  letter  Q_of 
a  work-mark  ;  otherwise  220  would  come  between  22  and  221. 

(4) 


5.  The  figures  are  to  be  considered  as  decimals,  and 
an-anged  on  the  shelf  in  the  order  h2,  h21,  h211,  h2111,  h2112, 
h22,  h23,  h233,  h24,  h3,  and  so  on. 

That  is,  all  the  numbers  beginning  with  2  ccnie  before  a  number 
beginning  with  3,  and  all  the  numbers  beginning  with  21  before  any 
beginning  with  22,  and  all  beginning  with  221  before  any  beginning 
with  222;  just  as  in  a  dictionary  all  the  words  beginning  with  Ab  come 
before  words  beginning  with  Ac,  and  all  the  Aca  words  come  before  Acb 
words. 


Some  persons  are  apprehensive  that  this  decimal 
arrangement  will  be  hard  to  itse,  or  at  least  hard  to  teach  to 
stupid  assistants  and  (when  the  public  are  allowed  to  go  to  the 
shelves)  to  a  public  unwilling  to  take  the  trotible  to  comprehend. 
It  may  be  so  sometimes ;  I  can  only  sa}'-  that  I  have  never  had 
any  difficult}^  with  anyone,  boy  or  girl,  man  or  woman,  when  the 
arrangement  was  explained  as  it  is  above.  But  if  this  is  con- 
sidered a  serious  objection  to  the  use  of  these  atithorjiiai'ks,  the 
difficulty  can  be  entirely  avoided  by  using  two  figures  with  the 
initial  in  all  cases,  treating  them  as  ordinals,  and  when  t\vo 
names  are  to  be  represented  by  the  same  combination,  so  that 
subdivision  becomes  necessary,  starting  a  new  series  of  ordinals 
either  from  1  to  9,  or  from  11  to  99,  by  putting  a  point  after  the 
first  two  figures,  e.  g.,  H21.1,  or  H21.]l.  The  sttipidest  attend- 
ant could  not  fail  to  comprehend  the  order  H34,  H34.1,  H34.2, 
H34.3,  H34.4,  and  so  on.  As  it  would  be  awkward  to  use  two 
decimal  points  (H34.2.1,  H34.2.2),  it  wotild  be  well  to  use  two 
figures  after  the  decimal  point  in  very  large  collections,  as 
Fiction  and  Biography,  thus,  H34,  H34.li,  H34.12,  H34.13,  etc. 

Of  course  this  ordinal  method  does  not  allow  infinite  inter- 
calation. A  time  will  come  when  some  new  name  cannot  be 
inserted  in  its  proper  order,  because  its  number  is  alread}' 
occupied.  But  a  notation  consisting  of  an  initial  followed  by 
fotir  characters  provides  places  for  so  mau}^  names  that  this 
misfortune  will  not  occur  soon  or  frequently.  And  when  it 
does  occur  the  approximate  alphabetical  arrangement  that  will 
here  and  there  restilt  is  ver}'^  much  better  than  no  alphabetic 
order  at  all. 

(5) 


Further  niarks.'^ 

6.  On  the  shelves  three  alphabetical  series  should  be 
made,  by  sizes,  O  including  all  books  25  cm.  high  or  less,  Q 
between  25  and  30,  F  over  30.  These  will  be  indicated  by  the 
sign  that  separates  the  class  mark  from  the  anthor-and-book 
mark,    *  for  O  and  smaller  sizes,  -|-  for  Q,    ||   for  F. 

In  small  libraries  it  is  best  to  make  only  one  series  of  books  under 
each  division  ;  the  few  books  that  are  too  large  for  the  shelves  can  be 
turned  down;  very  large  books  can  be  kept  in  some  separate  case.  But  in 
a  library  of  size,  and  especially  in  a  library  that  has  many  old  books,  there 
are  likely  to  be  so  many  quartos  and  folios  that  provision  must  be  made  to 
keep  them  by  themselves,  and  yet  in  juxtaposition  with  the  smaller  books 
of  their  class. 

It  is  well  always  to  mark  the  books  for  Q  and  F  \Aith  these  dis- 
tinctive marks,  but  these  two  sizes  may  often  be  mixed  advantageously 
in  a  single  alphabet,  on  the  shelves,  especially  where  there  aie  only  one 
or  two  folios  with  many  quartos,  or  one  or  two  quartos  with  many  folio.<=. 

The  three  size-marks  are  for  marking  the  catalog  and  the  back  of 
the  title  page;  they  are  not  used  in  lettering  the  backs  of  the  books;  in 
a  majority  of  cases  the  book's  size  is  sufficiently  shown  to  the  attendant 
who  puts  it  up  by  the  fact  that  a  Q  book  will  not  go  on  an  O  shelf. 

7.  In  numbering  Q  and  F  books  a  single  figure  will  usu- 
ally be  enough,  because  there  will  usually  be  few  books  of  those 
sizes  in  any  class,  and  .therefore  fewer  marks  are  needed  to  dis- 
tinguish them ;  often  the  initial  alone  would  be  enough  in  F. 

8.  Different  books  by  Tpie  same  author  in  the  same 
class  are  distinguished  by  work-marks  consisting  of  the  first 
letter  or  letters  of  the  catch-title  after  a  thin  space. 

E.  g.,  Dicken's  Chimes,  d554  c;  Christmas  carol,  d554  ch;  Cricket 
on  the  hearth,  d554  CR  ;  David  Copperfield,  d554  d  ;  Dombey  and  son, 
d554  do. 

9.  Other  copies  or  other  editions  are  noted  by  adding 
2  or  3  or  4,  as  the  case  may  be,  to  the  work-mark. 

E.  g.,  another  edition  of  Dombey  and  son,  d554  do2. 


*  pQr  a  discussion  of  other  methods  see  Library  notes,  vol    3. 

(6) 


10.  The  special  mark  for  translations,  for  use  in  large 
libraries  or  in  large  special  collections  in  a  S7uall  library^  is  tbe 
initial  of  the  language,  a  capital  letter  added  (after  a  size-mark) 
to  the  aiithor-mark. 

E.  g..  Goethe's  Dramatische  werke  "0554 

"  Dramatic  works  •g554"E 

*'  (Euvres  dramatiques  '0554  F 

Faust  •g554f 

"  Faust,  in  English  ■g554fE 

11.  If  there  are  several  translations  distinguish  them  by 
adding  the  initial  of  the  translator's  name  to  the  language- 
mark. 

E.g. 


ust,  in  the  original, 

■g554  f 

"        "  English  by  Austin 

•g554  FEa 

"    Bernays 

•g554  FEb 

"    Blackie 

•g554  F-Ebl 

' "    Bowen 

•g554  FEbo 

"    Brooks 

•g554  FEbr 

"  French    "    Blaze  de  Bury 

•g554  F'Fb 

"  Italian    "    Maffei 

•g554  Flm 

These  marks  are  long.  But  it  must  be  reraeraberd  that  the  need  for 
such  marks  does  not  occur  at  all  in  a  small  collection  of  books,  and  very 
rarely  in  a  large  one.  Moreover,  if  any  one  wants  to  avoid  them  alto- 
gether, he  can  do  so  by  giving  up  the  exact  arrangement  of  versions,  and 
simply  numbering  texts  and  translations  in  numerical  order  as  they  are 
received,  which  is  not  bad  where  there  is  no  access  to  the  shelves,  and 
almost  as  good  as  exact  arrangement  where  there  is  access,  until  the 
number  of  editions  and  translations  becomes  very  large,  for  instance, 
among  the  classics  in  a  college  library,  or  in  the  cai^e  of  Shakspeare, 
Goethe,  and  Dante,  in  any  large  general  library. 

12.  In  Biography,  which  is  to  be  arranged  b}^  the  names 
of  the  subjects  of  the  lives,  distinguish  different  authors  by 
adding  their  initials. 


E.  g.,  Chadwick's  Defoe 
Morley's  Defoe 
Wilson's  Defoe 


•d362  c 
•d362  m 
•d362  w 


13.  When  in  a  large  collection  the  number  of  editions  of 
a  single  work  exceeds  or  is  likely  to  exceed  9,  the  different  edi- 
tions may  be  distinguished  b}'-  adding  the  3^ear  of  publication 

(7) 


(usually  of  the  first  volume,  if  there  are  more  than  one)  instead 
of  a  number  2,  3,  or  4. 

E.  g..  Paradise  lost,  ed.  of  1G67  •iviG42  p  16(57 

"          "      reprint  of  same  ■mG42  p  1G67.2 

"      ed.  of  1732  •m642  p  1732 

"      ed.  of  1754  -^1642  p  1754 

Paradise  regained  1^642  r 

l-lr.  If  it  is  desired  to  keep  a  commentary  on  any  work 
immediately  after  the  work  add  to  the  work-mark  a  capital  'Y 
and  (if  necessary)  the  initial  of  the  commentator.  For  diction- 
aries and  concordances  add  'Z. 

E.  g.,  Frehse's  Worterbuch  zu  Renter's  saramtlichen  werken  would 
be  R  319    Zf. 

The  various  marks  then  are  : 

Class as  Ce 

Size as  ',-!-,  || 

Author as  d55 

Work as  d 

Copy  or  Edition as  2,  3,  4 

"       "         "         when  very  many as  1887 

Translation as  (into  English)  "E 

Other  copies  of  English  Translation as  'E2,  .E3 

Translation  by  another  hand  as  (d  being  initial  of 

translator's  name)  "Ed 

Commentary  or  other  illustrative  work as  'Y 

Dictionary as  'Z 

Another as  (p  being  initial  of  author  of  dictionary)  *Zp 

Eor  a  fuller  explanation,  see  Cutter's  Expansive  classification,  pt.  1, 
p.  139-lGO.  This  includes  a  way  to  mark  a  large  collection  of  Greek  and 
Latin  classics  (such  as  would  be  found  in  a  college  library),  first  published 
in  the  Library  Journal,  11:280-289.  See,  also,  the  full  scheme  for  mark- 
ing a  Shakspeare,  Dante,  Goethe,  Moliere,  or  Milton  collection,  in  the  7th 
Expansive  classification,  class  X,  p.  49-74,  enlarged  from  Library  Jour- 
nal. 9 : 137-139. 


(8; 


r- 


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♦«  A 


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